Value Partners Investments Inc. Purchases 800 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $230,000. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych boosted its position in Applied Materials by 12.7% during the first quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 26,650 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,867,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 311.2% during the first quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 12,924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after buying an additional 9,781 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InTrack Investment Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 56.2% in the first quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 5,104 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $741,000 after buying an additional 1,836 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Summit Insights cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Daiwa America downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (down previously from $190.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, August 15th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.92.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $167.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.68 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $177.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.69. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $215.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 40.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.910-2.310 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.